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having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial year 2004 (1),

—

having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial year 2004, together with the Agency's replies (2),

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having regard to the Council's recommendation of 14 March 2006 (5972/2006 — C6-0093/2006),

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having regard to the EC Treaty, and in particular Article 276 thereof,

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having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

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having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000 of 5 December 2000 on the European Agency for Reconstruction (4), and in particular Article 8 thereof,

—

having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

—

having regard to Rule 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A6-0095/2006),

A.

whereas the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that, except for an inability to be certain that long-term receivables had been recorded completely, the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2004 were reliable and that, except for anomalies in the award of contracts due to inappropriate selection criteria, the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, were legal and regular,

B.

whereas the Court of Auditors states that it has obtained reasonable assurance from all the agencies, excepting the express reservations in respect of the 2004 financial year concerning the European Agency for Reconstruction, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, the European Training Foundation, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and the European Food Safety Authority,

1.

Recalls that, under Article 185 of the Financial Regulation, Parliament shall give discharge for the implementation of the budgets of the bodies set up by the Communities and having legal personality which actually receive grants charged to the budget; points out, however, that not all of these bodies are fully, or even partially, funded via grants charged to the budget; emphasises that the discharge decision therefore covers both the budget and the non-budget funding of these bodies; considers it unacceptable that some of the bodies set up by the Union are accountable for the expenditure of income received from sources other than the budget whilst others, which do not receive a subsidy from the budget, are not; affirms the principle that all Community agencies, whether or not they are subsidised, are subject to discharge by Parliament, even when another discharge authority intervenes in accordance with their basic texts; takes the view that there is a need to review all texts that go against this principle;

2.

Finds table 1 of the Court of Auditors' report, introduced for the first time during the 2003 discharge exercise, which summarises the Agency's powers and responsibilities, governance, resources, activities and services provided, of great value; notes that the information contained in table 1 is supplied by the Agency; asks the Court of Auditors to verify the contents of table 1;

3.

Insists that as well as spending money properly, agencies should also strive to spend money as efficiently and effectively as possible; invites the Court of Auditors to consider the possibility of extending its specific annual reports on the agencies to include an examination of performance and achievement of objectives; in this context and in line with its resolutions on the 2003 discharge, insists that the following aspects be taken into account: that duplication of work among the agencies must be avoided as much as possible and that measures designed to improve transparency and communication with the public must be clarified, along with Community affirmative action measures at all levels of recruitment, training and the assignment of responsibilities;

4.

Notes that Community agencies do not always have a good image or good press and that many of them do not deserve such a negative image; points out that EU citizens should be made aware of this, with the appropriate means being used to explain as often as is necessary the raisons d'être and achievements of the agencies; calls on the Commission to act accordingly, using whatever means it considers necessary;

5.

Notes that the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 has affected the structures and operating arrangements of the Community agencies in many ways, and that several of the agencies draw attention to these effects in their activity reports, focusing in particular on the increase in the number of administrators; calls on the Commission to assess the real or supposed problems encountered and to recommend the regulatory changes required;

6.

Notes that the Commission has made a commitment to harmonising the way in which activity reports concerning its directorates-general are presented; calls for a similar approach to be taken in respect of the activity reports of the Communities' agencies, which differ significantly in terms of content; calls on the Commission to point out to the Communities' agencies the information and activity indicators that they must provide;

7.

Is pleased to note that the Court of Auditors has been able to give the Agency a positive statement of assurance for the financial year 2004; praises the Agency for the progress made; notes, however, that the Court of Auditors entered reservations qualifying its statement of assurance on the grounds of uncertainties concerning the completeness of the accounts and problems in the contract award procedure; urges the Agency to keep up its efforts to improve financial management and control, particularly in the areas of weakness highlighted by the Court of Auditors;

8.

Urges the Agency to seek guidance to improve its treasury management policy in order to make best use of the often considerable sums maintained in current bank accounts;

9.

Notes with concern the reservation concerning the accounts expressed by the Court of Auditors on the grounds that it cannot be certain that the transactions relating to counterpart funds, credit line schemes and special funds have been completely recorded in the absence of effective internal control procedures for long-term receivables; insists that all transactions be capable of verification by the Court of Auditors;

10.

Welcomes the statement made to a delegation of Parliament by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations that certified copies of all documents related to projects and programmes financed from funds of the Agency will be available for verification upon request by the Court of Auditors; calls on the Court to discuss and agree with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) the detailed arrangements for such verifications;

11.

In order to improve the reliability and supervision of the management of the budget as regards programmes that are shared with other bodies (UNMIK, IOM, etc.), urges the Court of Auditors, the Commission and those responsible for the UN in Kosovo to act as soon as possible to review and improve the implementation of the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement signed by the Commission and the UN on 29 April 2003 and to keep Parliament informed as to progress made;

12.

In order to address the serious problems of unreliability and accusations of corrupt practices currently surrounding award of public procurement contracts and concessions for highly sensitive projects such as mobile telephony, urges the Commission and the Agency, in close cooperation with UNMIK and its Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), to lay down clear and transparent public procurement rules, to establish internal and supreme audit institutions and to keep Parliament informed as to progress made;

13.

With a view to maximising transparency and improving budgetary control, calls on the Commission and the Court of Auditors to include within the annual report on the European Agency for Reconstruction a chapter on the activities of both OLAF and the FIU in respect of programmes and projects carried out in Kosovo that have received Community funding;

14.

Notes the Commission's intention to end the Agency's mandate at the end of 2008 and to hand over the Agency's activities to the Commission's own delegations and local offices; takes the view that, under its mandate, the Agency has achieved positive results despite both numerous criticisms from the Court of Auditors throughout its existence and a lack of support from the Commission; takes the view that the know-how acquired by the Agency's staff could be used once again by the Commission; calls on its competent committee to see whether phasing out the Agency would not have a negative impact on the economic and political progress needed and whether the Commission's own delegations and local offices can perform the same tasks as defined in the Agency's mandate;

15.

Notes the problems faced by the Agency in recruiting suitable staff because of the short-term mandate of the Agency; considers that instead of phasing out the Agency according to a pre-set timetable, the time span of the mandate should depend on political and economic criteria and developments; considers furthermore that the mandate should be lengthened and broadened for policy reasons and notes that this would also help to improve the Agency's ability to recruit and keep suitably qualified and experienced staff; considers that experience gained by and with the reconstruction agency could be used to provide reconstruction assistance wherever needed, for example in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the countries affected by the Tsunami, as a second stage after immediate humanitarian needs have been addressed by the Humanitarian Aid Office;

16.

Is disappointed to note that the Court of Auditors has again discovered anomalies in the award of contracts due to inappropriate selection criteria; urges the Agency to set more realistic, appropriate selection criteria and to apply them strictly in order to guarantee transparent and fair treatment of tenderers; notes the Agency's assurances that improvements will be seen in the 2005 audit exercise;

17.

Urges the Agency to introduce a standardised system for dealing with payment requests as soon as possible, as recommended by the Court of Auditors;

18.

Calls on the Commission to help the agencies follow as closely as possible the work plan agreed for the year ahead, allowing activities to be properly planned and implemented, and particularly to avoid major, last-minute changes to the work load;

19.

Asks the Commission to improve synergies between agencies by making cooperation more effective, avoiding duplication of work and addressing shortcomings, in particular as regards common areas such as training, the implementation of Community policies across the board, the use of the latest management systems and solving problems relating to sound management of the budget.